We created Current to give voice to those Americans who refuse to rely on corporate-controlled media and are seeking an authentic progressive outlet. We are more committed to those goals today than ever before.

Current was also founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it.

QuoteSigns of trouble first appeared when Olbermann did not participate in the network’s coverage of the early primaries. Although he appeared in later broadcasts, the tension leaked into increasingly tough stories detailing Olbermann’s unhappiness with the technical limitations of his New York studio and lack of input into Current’s programming decisions.

Current executives had hoped to head off this kind of warring by giving Olbermann an equity stake and the title of “chief news officer” — making him, in essence a boss. But in the end, that was not enough to keep him from fighting with the network’s top brass.

A source familiar with the situation says Olbermann was fired for breach of contract, including a failure to show up for work, sabotaging the network and attacking Current and its executives.

In January and February, for example, he missed 19 out of 41 working days, including the nights of the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary, according to the source. He also rankled executives by asking for a vacation day on March 5th, the eve of Super Tuesday.

My guess is Olbermann was used to "cable news" access to guests, technology, and support staff. Being given a title does nothing when the company you work for will not either spring for a trip to one of the states where the primaries are, or a competent live correspondent with presence in the press pools or with any of the candidates.

Olbermann was occasionally eloquent and could make some good points now and then, but he's too much of a prima donna with an Edward R. Murrow wannabe complex.

I'll agree - you're more generous than I would be, but it's true that he does have some skill, but I find him such a blowhard that it taints much of the good stuff that he says. I haven't laid eyes on him in 2 years at least and I like it that way...

Quotefor more than a year I have been imploring Al Gore and Joel Hyatt to resolve our issues internally, while I've been not publicizing my complaints, and keeping the show alive for the sake of its loyal viewers and even more loyal staff. Nevertheless, Mr. Gore and Mr. Hyatt, instead of abiding by their promises and obligations and investing in a quality news program, finally thought it was more economical to try to get out of my contract.

It goes almost without saying that the claims against me implied in Current's statement are untrue and will be proved so in the legal actions I will be filing against them presently. To understand Mr. Hyatt's "values of respect, openness, collegiality and loyalty," I encourage you to read of a previous occasion Mr. Hyatt found himself in court for having unjustly fired an employee. That employee's name was Clarence B. Cain...

QuotePhiladelphia, the film starring Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks, bears a striking resemblance to a case involving a young Black attorney in Philadelphia who was fired when the law firm where he worked learned he had AIDS.

In the movie, Washington is the attorney for Hanks, who has been diagnosed with AIDS and fired from a big law firm. In real life, Clarence Cain was a Univ. of Virginia law grad fired in 1987 from a regional directorship at the Hyatt Legal Services chain of legal clinics, founded by Joel Hyatt.

Outraged at the way he had been treated in light of his medical condition, Cain retained long-time friend and fellow attorney Richard Silverberg to plead his case. In 1990, a court awarded Cain $157,888 in a discrimination suit...

He may have a good lawsuit, but it's a little weird that he's trying to draw comparisons between himself and Clarence Cain.

Is he suggesting that he was mistreated because of some innate characteristic that Joel Hyatt actively discriminates against? Or that he was fired for having AIDs...? Or what...?

He's Keith Olbermann. In the movie in his head, he can't just be fired like anyone else. He has to be fired in a Very Special Way which lets him join the pantheon of martyrs. So that's the script he is running with.